Reviresco

Well, I got that wrong, hands up. I didn't expect young Crumpie to ride as well, so well done lad. If there was a one off world final at Leszno, what a meeting that would be. Well done Polska & Oz

Yes, I was cheering them on and also marvelling at their enthusiasm, bike control and machinery. Its been a long time since riders from the old Soviet Union were masked in mystery and competed brilliantly in the old Individual World Championships. 40plus years since Samorodov, Kurilenko & the brilliant Igor Plechanov finished on or close to the rostrums. I hope the Russians development continues and brings another country into competition against the top 5. And a GP or World Team Cup Final in Russia would be a brilliant event - moscow.......

Poland & Sweden for me as can't see Australia, apart from their top two, doing anything. Must say I'm pleased to see Russia's re-emergence and hope it continues, to add another country into the mix.

But wouldn't Prince Charming get upset?

I have never been a fan of Crump jnr (and certainly not of Crump snr) and neither have I been a great fan of American speedway riders for various (non-drug) induced reasons, but my opinion of both was greatly enhanced by the way Messrs Crump & Hancock seemed to, almost without any pre-thought, hoist Chris BOMBER Harris on their shoulders on the podium on Saturday. A genuine display of respect & affection, imo, for a guy who could maybe, hopefully, just change the fortunes of the sport we all love in this country. Well done everybody for a fantastic sporting (in both respects) spectacle. Stay Safe & Prosper all you who care.

Thanks Iris. Appreciated

Fascinating topic. Now, can you confirm that Mitch Shirra rode for both NZ & Australia, but was born in NZ (or the other way round)? David Bargh was one of the nicest people I've ever met, let alone speedway riders. And talking of Shirra, did you know that, apparently, he is ranked 569th in the world speedway standings (with Andrew Bargh at 512th) according to: http://speedwayranking.125mb.com/home.htm Is Mitch still riding then?

A bit late from me, but just to say how much your spreadsheet has added to my enjoyment (and understanding) of this year's GP series. Thanks Steve, absolutely brilliant.

I.M.O. it was a great GP to watch and well done the track staff for preparing just about the best temporary track ever. The scoring system this year makes it a bit strange though that a rider (Adams) can get more points (18) than the guy who is declared the GP winner (Jonsson with 16) and a guy (Gollob) can get in the Final and score less points (11) than a guy who get knocked out in the semis (Andersen with 12). Still can't decide whether its a good or bad thing or whether it happens in any other sport.

I hope he does hang around. Close to being the best motorcyclist I've ever seen. Just hope the stories about the plane crash are not as bed as may be feared.

Shorter when you commit suicide.........

Have I missed something here? Hasn't the 2007 line-up been announced as: 2007 FIM INDIVIDUAL SPEEDWAY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP GRAND PRIX RIDER LINE-UP QUALIFIED RIDERS Riding N° Name Country FMN 1 JASON CRUMP AUSTRALIA MA 2 GREG HANCOCK USA AMA 3 NICKI PEDERSEN DENMARK DMU 4 ANDREAS JONSSON SWEDEN SVEMO 5 LEIGH ADAMS AUSTRALIA MA 6 HANS ANDERSEN DENMARK DMU 7 MATEJ ZAGAR SLOVENIA AMZS 8 TOMASZ GOLLOB POLAND PZM 9 JAROSLAW HAMPEL POLAND PZM 10 ANTONIO LINDBÄCK SWEDEN SVEMO 11 SCOTT NICHOLLS GREAT BRITAIN ACU 12 BJARNE PEDERSEN DENMARK DMU 13 WIESLAW JAGUS POLAND PZM 14 RUNE HOLTA POLAND PZM 15 CHRIS HARRIS GREAT BRITAIN ACU 16 WILD CARD TRACK RESERVES 17 TRACK RESERVE 18 TRACK RESERVE QUALIFIED RESERVES 19 PETER KARLSSON SWEDEN SVEMO 20 KAJ LAUKKENEN FINLAND SML 21 CHARLIE GJEDDE DENMARK DMU 22 PIOTR PROTASIEWICZ POLAND PZM 23 RYAN SULLIVAN AUSTRALIA MA 24 MATEJ FERJAN SLOVENIA MAMS Sorry if I'm being stupid (again).

I haven't missed it, I just fail to understand it. Nicholls has been the top British rider for a number of years and, love him or hate him (and you obviously hate him), he will be seeded into the GP year on year until another Brit comes along to take his Brit No. 1 slot away from him. Andersen started his 'rebirth' this year quite well but I think he's now shown how inconsistent he can be. Nicholls has been there for a few years now and, its a great shame that British speedway fans can't support their no. 1 rider. We may now have got to the stage where no other Brit deserves to be in the GP. Then again, maybe Rune Holta will change from Norwegian via Polish to British and there will be another 'British' GP rider in 2007. IMO, I can't see how Britain can justify more than one rider in GP07. Cardiff is not full of British fans, it is full of British speedway fans who support riders from different countries. Only when you attend GP's in other countries do you get the 'nationalistic' support that it appears British fans can't achieve. If British speedway fans supported their own riders more, it may be easier for BSI to seed 2 Brits in 07. Loram is the only possible choice, being a former World Champion and featuring reasonably highly in the Elite Averages.

I fail to understand how anybody would want to have an article in BackTrack on Gary Gugliemi. What he did off track (no details on here) surely exclude him from any association with speedway past & present.

A good enough reason, imo, to have another Latvian GP, especially if the Championship is already decided and you can concentrate on the sites. Maybe our Soph got tied up by the start line girls and left in a corner somewhere, just in case she started providing some opposition......?

It's all a bit strange, what is happening with Lee Richardson at the moment. There was the rumour that he wasn't going to compete tonight and him being deleted from early betting. He had that illness a few years ago - has that resurfaced. He appears to have totally lost his confidence and, I guess, the crash he had at the last GP may have affected him more than we thought. It's just strange that he was gating and getting in good positions tonight, but just not keeping it together. Hopefully a year out of the GP's will do him some good as, a couple of years ago, he really was challenging Nicholls for British no. 1. With the dearth of world class Brits around just now, we really need Lee to get back to his best again.

That's what I heard, Steve Irwin..........? Was Greg a friend of his? Seems strange when speedway has lost two past riders recently, one a compatriot of Greg's, that he should dedicate to Steve Irwin. If Crump had won............

Agreed. Tonio has been on top form over the last couple of weeks and at 33-1 with Sky Bet almost won me a few bob. Seems the sort of guy who will learn from his two unfortunate re-run defeats. Yes, Greg rode the re-run brilliantly, but he did look well beat in the first running. Another victory for the old brigade. When are the young guns going to finally takeover?

Said, No. Intimated, Yes. Then, you being a Mongolian Warlord, I suppose everybody is gutless comapred to you, including Britain's top current speedway rider.....

So, BSI have carried out their promise of presenting GP meetings in top class stadia, in big cities and on well prepared tracks.........? On the other hand I suppose the riders should be able to ride on all sorts of tracks and surfaces, including flat, unbanked, slick affairs like the one on offer tonight. I guess that's why we have a GP series rather than a one off final these days? Must say, the totty was top class tonight though. Not just at the tapes either. How much is a return weekend ticket to Latvia?

So Subedei, another gutless performance by Nicholls, full of excuses, at tonight's Latvian GP then? Yes, he may have only got 9pts, yes he may have only made the semi again, but surely even you, Subedei, could appreciate his effort a few weeks after his injury. Well done Scott. A great performance tonight and all best wishes for your GP campaign next year representing yourself and Great Britain.

Not saying they are weak per se, just that they haven't put in a strong consistent performance in the GP's this year. At his age, Greg shouldn't have been Jason's nearest challenger, imo. Niki been stronger in the past. Leigh consistently not getting quite there. AJ, BP, Hampel, Lindback not moved on that much. Tomasz not looking totally dialled in anymore. TR dropping out. And would Hans have been so strong if he'd been nominated from the start? Can't take anything away from the boy, he's won it and made it look comparatively easy. It is up to the other riders to move on up to his level. Personally I hope they do, to make the GP more competitive than this season.

Sorry, but I know people who work at Eurosport and the football commentary is definitely not on-site. The Sky Sports transmissions may be from a London studio, but their commentators are on-site, certainly in Suzi Perry's day anyway and would doubt it has changed.

Nicholls will be in the GP next year, whether qualified or seeded. As for the 2nd Brit, imo, BSI will go for an ex-World Champ (Loram) rather than Harris who will get the Cardiff Wild Card. Harris' current form puts him in front of Stead. I am surprised that nobody has mentioned Andy Smith though.....

Yeah, sorry I'm an idiot - don't know why I thought these 2 were defunct